1800+ miles in 7 days....Sweet

Yes once again it has been a while since a post. I figure about every two weeks is about right nowadays as I have to find time to squeeze this posting in and also find time to explore our new surroundings here in Spokane.

Last week Friday (two Fridays ago) we left on a 7 day motorcycle tour of Banff, Jasper, and Glacier. We had a great time and although it rained and was cloudy a lot of the time it never rained while we were riding or when we were hiking. I thought that it was perfect camping weather if you came prepared...which we were.
Nice lake on the ride up. I thought it was a great lake, but there was so much more to come.

Ferry ride in BC was awesome. No wait going north, while the line on the other side to go south was backed up for about 1mile...I mean 1.5K.

The lake was as still as could be and a great ride.

This was the view from the mens room where I took a leak. It could not have been more relaxing.

Me with the clothes you will see me in for the next 4days...same underwear as well.

Here was a waterfall about .5K from our overflow campsite that night. Canada has these communal overflow sites that when the campgrounds fill up people are never left high and dry without a spot to stay. When will the US figure out that this is a great idea?

Brenda was wiped out after a long day on the bike. The highways in BC were essentially abandoned and very fun to ride on a bike.

Here are some Scottish people we met at the campsite. We had a great time talking around the campfire that night and loaned then our torch(flashlight) as they had forgotten theirs. The spoke English, but with that accent we could barely understand them.

Murry, Ian, and my self. thy had just made toast over the fire to go with their cheese whiz for breakfast.

Goodbye BC and hello Alberta.

With all the wildfires in BC blowing into Alberta, when we arrived at a our campsite in Banff, we could hardly see the glaciers and mountains surrounding us.

But then the next morning the sky had cleared and this is a pic from the door of the tent....nice.

Lake Peyto lake overlook...just amazing.

Without Brenda obscuring the view....although she is something to behold as well.

On our way back from Banff we saw four of these guys...man they taste good.

Then, on to the hike to the falls and the ink pots. The falls were great and the ink pots did not disappoint either. The ink pots are pools of water where cool water springs feed the pools, but move the heavy sediment around the bottom of the pool without making the water cloudy...not sure if that made any sense, but it was very cool.

On the trail...same shirt.

A thunder storm blew in while we were up there and we got a little rained on, but not enough to get us to wet.

The next day it was off to Lake Louise and to meet up with Ike who just also happen to be in the area visiting. That morning it was foggy, but once we got above the fog at Moraine lake we saw the most beautiful colored lake of the whole trip.

Moraine lake. We almost canoed on the lake, but they wanted $45CAN for one hour. Normally not a big deal, but with the US dollar getting kicked in the nuts recently I was way to cheap to fork that kind of money out.

Moraine lake again.

Then Ike and Leah at Lake Louise and hiked to the Tea House for lunch.

Here us the view from up on the mountain.

Some of the glaciers.

And us after the hike by the hotel there.

Brenda and I by the lake....same shirt.

On the way back to the campsite we passed by bow lake every day. This day it was just right for a picture.

Another pic from our campsite.

The next day we drove to Jasper and visited a ton of sites

Columbia icefield was cool. Again they try to get you to pay $85CAN to take a bus with big wheels into a ice parking lot on the glacier. Instead we hiked to the edge of the glacier and drank the fresh runoff.

The Ice in the water was so crystal clear I really wished I had some Tanquerey and tonic...mmmmmmm

The river cut a deep channel in the rocks here and made quite the site.

Notice the slight rainbow on the right.

About 1 mile up the road we found horseshoe lake where I went cliff jumping into the crystal clear water.

Then we took a hike to the angel glacier.

I think that the water may be a little cold at this lake.

An ice cave in the glacier, but I did not go in it. It was about 10' tall and 20' wide.

A different waterfall later in the day. There are a lot of waterfalls.

A different falls, but you get the picture.

By the angel glacier.

The next day we stopped at Radium hot springs on the way out of Banff and headed out to Glacier NP. Brenda's parents were in whitefish with a slew of other Model T's driving the roads around that area and we got to stay with them at the resort. Brenda was very thankful to get a shower, but I did not take one the whole week.

On the way into the park.

Once at the top of the pass we hiked to hidden lake and saw these guys along the way. The hike was very easy and we are so glad we took it.

Another shot...I bet they taste good.

Then we ran into a bunch of these guys. The trail was only about a mile and well worth it.

Babies also along the trail.And this lake was at the end of the trail.

Later we drove the rest of the going to the sun road and stopped for lunch at this lookout a short hike from the road.

Same lake different angle.

Here is a pic of us on the going to the sun road. What is missing in this picture? You got it, helmets. No helmet law in MT and so much to see allowed me to ride without a helmet as much as I wanted. I choose to go without one on the slower park roads, but put it on when I got on the highways outside of the park.

Brenda singing the Sound of Music.

We got home yesterday and had a blast. we look forward to going back again and hope it will not be to long. We got a lot of other pics and stories to tell, but I guess you will have to call us if you want the Brenda and John comentary. FYI: new number is five-zero-nine-nine-two-tw0-1855. Please call anytime as Brenda is at home normally when not hitting the pavement looking for a job.

We are Here

Moving Update



We left CA and stopped by to see a few of our friends on the way up to Washington. We met Cara at my aunt and uncles place and had a terrific visit there. Then it was off to Redding for the night, and then to Washington.



The drive was uneventful and we are very thankful for that. When we arrived we had a great time at Jim and Sandi's, and got to go visit Ben and Laura our other friends that moved there from Sioux Falls about 8 months ago. Their kids have gotten about 100 time more adorable and we look forward to seeing them again in the not so distant future.

Here is Addison and Ashton hanging out with me and having a blast.

Jim and Sandi are very glad that we are back in the area...for good.

Jim had a new...old.. model T. He custom built the wood frame for the back and the entire thing was made from older parts of other "T's" he had accumulated over the past 20yrs. We took it for a ride and it ran like a top.

Here is Ben and Ashton that night when we had a BBQ at Jim and Sandi's. I would put the pic of me with him in, but it contains evidence of me consuming adult beverages and may not be suitable for all audiences.

Brenda with Addison and she can run like the wind...while Ashton runs more like a guy at 2am after a long night, but he is getting better.

Then we got to the apartment and it looked as it did on the internet and we signed the papers and have a new place to stay.

Here is Brenda's new best friend's that she is very excited about...she is still trying to figure out where to put the quarters at, but I told her they did not need it. What will they think of next?

Living room and TV room all in one.

Here is the kitchen.

The downtown of Spokane is very cool and we cannot figure out where all the people are. If there was this nice of a place in CA it would be swarmed with people.Brenda and her mom. Nice Sunday afternoon.

This weekend we went to Coeur D'Alene lake on a long motorcycle ride. The ride was awesome and we got a chance to go for a dip in the lake.

Here is Brenda in the crystal clear water and it is way warmer than the ocean.

There is a bike path all along the river about 1.5m from our apartment. The bike path is about 35 miles long and paved the whole way. It is perfect for a quick ride.We are hoping to float the river sometime this summer and it looked like a great time.

Monday and Tuesday I had a job in Idaho in the town of Wallace. This job was supposed to start a long time ago, but is just getting off of the ground. My co worker could not get out here in time for job and will be about two weeks out so we got to stay in the condo in the ski resort he has rented. This place was ....wow...way nicer than I would have ever thought.

Chillin in the new pad.This place has an indoor water park and it is included with the room. What else could you want. They have a wave rider and the line was non existent so I rode that thing a lot.

Here is what the outside of the resort looks like. I will be working there more in the future and love working around the beautiful mountains and trees.

Just thought I would update the blog finally to let you know what we are up to, but it has been a very busy two weeks and it feels so new here that work does not even seem like work. I am sure it will get old, but it is so nice for now. I know the blog has lacked spunk as of late, but with a lot going on I have not had time to pay attention to how the government is sticking it to us.